World War II and the Beginning of the Cold War

1
World War II and the Beginning of the Cold War
2
The New Prosperity
Postwar prosperity in urban America helped make
the early 1920s with new advertising through
the radio and magazines, and with profits from
overseas trade. Rural America did not obtain
much of this easy money but still wanted the
comforts advertised in publications like the
Sears Catalog.
3
The Jazz Age
The prosperity characterized the Roaring
Twenties, where flappers smoked in public,
youth enjoyed their own status as a market.
But the prosperity rested on shaky ground
people did not make enough money to buy all that
was being manufactured. By 1927, many industries
were reducing staff and cutting wages. All that
was required was a shock to create a financial
panic. The bubble burst in 1929.
4
An Assurance of Peace?
In the late 1920s, U.S. Secretary of State Frank
Kellogg joined the French foreign minister in
persuading world leaders to sign a pact promising
to settle all differences without resorting to
war. Every major nation signed it and then
ignored it.
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Prosperity on shaky ground

• Despite the rising stock market, American (and
  world) prosperity rested on very little more than
  public confidence this declined as dictatorships
  took hold in Europe and Asia
• World trade declined as many nations imposed high
  tariffs (taxes on imported foreign goods)
• The worlds gold supply was not stabilizing
  prices
• Unemployment was slowly growing, as fewer people
  could afford modern luxury goods
• As sales of cars, radios, and other durable
  goods (refrigerators, washing machines, etc.)
  slowed down, American factories laid off workers.

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THE CRASH
Over speculation in the stock market led to wild
swings in stock prices. In October 1929, the
overall market fell to less than 50 of its
previous value. Hundreds of thousands loss their
jobs in the financial depression.
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Bank Failures 9000 banks holding 7 billion
closed in 1 year (no deposit insurance existed)
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One in four workers were unemployed by 1933
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Europe and Asia
1933 Hitler promises Germany justice for its
defeat in 1918.
1937 Japan invades China. The League of
Nations is helpless.
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Isolationism

• Financial depression in 1929-38 reduces trade and
  raises international tensions.
• Neutrality Laws in 1935-1936 Restrict American
  business with nations at war and prevent American
  citizens from being endangered.
• U.S. journalists begin covering wars in Asia and
  North Africa their stories have an impact on how
  Americans regard the situation.
• Refugees from Europe also affect how Americans
  think about Europe.

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Isolationism
Neutrality Laws in 1935-1936, written by Gerald
Nye of North Dakota (below), restricted American
business with nations at war and prevent American
citizens from being endangered.

12
September 1939 Germany Invades Poland
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Refugees
European refugees outside American consulate in
Marseilles, France, 1940.
14
William L. Shirer
Vienna looked like any German city in the Reich
red, white and black Swastika flags hung from
the balconies of most of the homes. And in the
streets people raised their hands in Nazi salute
and greeted each other with Heil Hitler! CBS
radio correspondent William L. Shirer on the
German control of much of Europe..
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US Aid
As France collapsed, President Roosevelt faced a
problem similar to what Wilson faced in 1916.
Roosevelt decided to run for re-election in 1940.
The defeat of France had shocked Congress into
vastly increasing spending on defense and to
accepting a 3-term president. But no one wanted
war with Germany.
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Defeat in France
In May-June, 1940, the German armies defeated
France in 6 weeks and forced the British to
evacuate their troops from Belgium. The U.S.
feared Britain would quickly sign a treaty that
gave Hitler control of Europe.
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France Occupied
18
Britain Alone
France, having promised to make no separate
peace, not only signed a separate peace but also
returned to Germany 400 captured German airmen,
who could now be used to attack Great Britain.
19
Cash and Carry
FDR persuaded Congress to modify the Neutrality
Laws so Britain could buy weapons for cash and
carry them away on their own ships.
20
German U-boats
But German untersee boats were sinking one of
every three tons of goods that Britain bought
and again threatening American ships.
21
Destroyer Deal
Despite British failures, Roosevelt in September
1940 traded 50 older destroyers to Britain in
return for 99-year leases of bases in the
Caribbean and Canada.
22
Lend-Lease
23
The Draft
In 1940, Congress approved the first peace-time
draft in American experience. The draftees (21 or
older) were chosen by lottery and were to serve
for one year.
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Guardsmen Called Up
In the fall of 1941, the draft was extended,
keeping those from 1940 in the service. National
Guard units were also called up for training with
the U.S. Army. This included Minnesota and North
Dakota guard units. People were now expecting
war as inevitable.
25
Russia Invaded
When the Germans invaded Russia in June 1941,
special execution squads murdered thousands of
civilians communists leaders, community
leaders, intellectuals and Jews. About 8 of
every 10 German soldiers killed in the war died
in the war with Russia.
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Genocide
The Nazi plan was to occupy the western part of
Russia as far as the Ural mountains, allow much
of the Russian population to starve and use the
remainder as slave labor.
We shoot villagers on the slightest excuse. Just
stick them up against a wall. We order the whole
village out to watch. Its a vicious circle. We
hate them and they hate us, and on and on it
goes, everyone getting more inhuman. From a
German soldiers diary
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The Holocaust
In order to carry out its extermination plan,
Germany pressured its allies Italy, Romania,
Hungary and the Vichy government of France-- to
turn all Jews over to German hands. These women
at the Gurs refugee camp were likely among the
victims.
28
Death Camps
In 1942, the Nazis employed their knowledge of
poison gas to speed up the murder of Jews in
special death camps, like Auschwitz (entrance to
the Auschwitz still exists at the memorial site
in Poland. U.S. code breakers also knew about the
activities in these camps.
29
Defeated in 1941
Despite inflicting over 2 million casualties on
Russia, the German army was halted in 1941 by
better Russian tanks and the onset of winter.
With American entry in December, Germany now
faced Britain, Russia, and the U.S.
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And the War Came
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Global War
Where should the U.S. use its military power?
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Purpose of the War?
In a mid-ocean meeting, Roosevelt and Churchill
agreed that Germany should be the major focus of
US and British military effort (which angered
Americans who wanted quick revenge for Pearl
Harbor). Roosevelt also persuaded Churchill to
agree to the Atlantic Charter a commitment to a
better postwar world. As yet there was no talk
of a united nations.
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Different Agendas for Victory

• To Roosevelt the Atlantic Charter meant a
  reduction of the British Empire.
• To Churchill, victory in the war meant
  preservation of the British empire.
• Neither Roosevelt nor Churchill completely
  trusted Stalin (Russia the 3rd of the Allied
  powers). But Roosevelt thought Stalin could be
  persuaded to co-operate. Churchill doubted this.

34
The Second Front
Russia began demanding demanding a second front
from Britain in 1942. But France was not invaded
until 1944. Stalin accused Churchill and
Roosevelt of waiting until Russia and Germany had
bled one another white.
What news from the second front In British
newspaper, July 1942.
35
Unconditional Surrender
After the U.S. Army fought German troops in North
Africa, Roosevelt surprised everyone when he said
that only the unconditional surrender of
Germany, Italy and Japan would end the war. He
may have said this to reassure Stalin. Britain,
receiving enormous aid from America, had to go
along with the idea of not accepting a negotiated
peace.
36
War in the Air
The American air force believed Germany could be
forced to surrender by bombing German
industry.Of the 78,000 American M.I.A.s of
WWII, 85 are air force fliers.
37
Bombing Germany
By 1945 every German city looked like this. More
than 700,000 German civilians died in these
bombings. At Dresden, March 1945, 35,000 died in
one raid by British bombers.
38
In the Pacific
Battles in the Pacific, at Guadalcanal and
elsewhere, had taught American Marines and
Soldiers that the Japanese never surrendered, and
did not take prisoners. This would color views
of Asia among Americans.
39
Island Hopping
To win the Pacific War, the United States had to
build the largest fleet in history and move from
island to island, building air bases as they
approached Japan.
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D-Day, 1944
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End in Europe
The war ended in Europe in May 1945, after the
Russian armies captured Berlin and Hitler
committed suicide.
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End of Japanese Navy
Total destruction of Japans navy by April 1945
opened the home islands to endless bombing.
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End in the Pacific
Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in
August 1945, forced Japan to surrender (but only
on the condition that the Japanese emperor remain
on the thrown).
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Allies No Longer
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Postwar Europe and American Leadership

• U.S. was the guiding force in creating a United
  Nations to replace the old League
• US played major part in occupying Germany and
  japan from 1945-52. The aim was to build
  democracy.
• US Marshall Plan provides billions of dollars
  to restore European economy (eastern Europe does
  not participate).
• US creates NATO to counter Soviet military power.
• US leads in the creation of West German Republic.
• US containment policy is key to cold war
  strategy.

46
Russia and Its Security
Russia had suffered highest losses of the war
20 million deaths and much of its industry
destroyed. But it had the largest army in Europe.
47
Russias Eastern Bloc
Poland
Czech.
Hungary
Romania
Yugo.
Bulgaria
The Russian armies controlled much of eastern
Europe as the war ended.
48
Unity with Tanks
Russian tanks crush uprising in Hungary, 1956
The Soviet Union kept its hold over Eastern
Europe with military force, using armed force to
suppress independence movements in Hungary in
1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968.
49
Dividing and Occupying
The US, Britain, Russia, and France, occupied
Germany, dividing the country (and the capitol)
into 4 zones. Cooperation soon became difficult.
Russia literally looted its zone of anything of
value.
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Iron Curtain
In response to the Russian domination of Poland,
Truman cut off aid to Russia and invited
Churchill to the U.S. in 1946, to warn Americans
that an iron curtain was falling over eastern
Europe. The Cold War was on.
51
Truman Doctrine
Angry over Stalins failure to keep his Potsdam
promises, Truman stopped Lend Lease aid to
Russia. In 1947, he also promised extensive aid
to Greece to prevent its government from falling
to communist insurgents. This Truman Doctrine
was a key step in the U.S.-Soviet rivalry for
influence in Europe.
52
Europe in Shambles
Secretary of State George Marshal warned Truman
and Congress that, without substantial American
help, the economy of Europe would not recover
from the war. Another world-wide depression
could result in war and a communist victory.
53
Marshall Plan
A much more extensive aid program was the
Marshall Plan, inaugurated in 1947-48, it granted
extensive aid toward restoring the economy of
western Europe. Because the Soviet Union would
not permit American agents to inspect economic
conditions in the eastern nations his armies
occupied, no aid went to those countries.
54
National Security
In 1947, the U.S. Congress passed the National
Security Act, which merged the armed services
under the Department of Defense, created the CIA
and the National Security, and set a goal of
coordinating national defense with the policy of
containment of Soviet influence.
55
Berlin Airlift
In 1948-49, the Soviet Union tried to drive the
U.S. and Britain out of Germany with the the
blockade of Berlin. The U.S. used aircraft to
fly supplies to west Berlin. Russia tested its
own A-bomb in August 1949. The arms race was on.
56
NATO
In 1949, the U.S. led in the organization of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an
alliance that pledged the U.S. to bring military
aid to any NATO member attacked by aggressors
the first U.S. military peacetime alliance
commitment in its history.
57
Containment
Because another major war would involve atomic
bombs, the U.S. sought another strategy for
dealing with Russia. George Kennan (right) a
senior State Department analyst, suggested
containment use American financial (and
military) power to keep Russian influence out of
other countries wait for Russias population to
tire of Soviet rule.
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The War for Hearts and Minds
Containment would dominate the Cold Wars
struggle within the Third World -- the poorer
nations in Africa, Asia and South America that
could opt for communism or capitalism as their
guide for economic growth.Critics charged that
this meant creating either a slave world or a
consumer world.